Barrel-head fastener.



PATENTED AUG. 16, 1904.

D. E. RICHARDS. BARREL HEAD PASTENER,

APPLICATION FILED D20. 28, 1903.

F0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented August 16, 1904.

DAVID E. RICHARDS, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

BARREL-HEAD FASTENER- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,715, dated August 16, 1904,

Application filed December 28, 1903. Serial No. 186,891- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID E. RIoHARDs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Malden, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Barrel-Head Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improved construction of barrel-head fasteners, the object being to provide an exceedingly cheap and simple construction of fastener which can be applied to the ends of the staves for the purpose of securely holding the head of the barrel in place instead of using the ordinary construction of wooden liners now in common use. In fixing the head of a barrel by means of these liners considerable time is required to affect the operation, and it requires two separate pieces of wood and a number of nails.

The object of my invention is to avoid the use of the liners and nails and provide a simple form of fastener made of wire and which can be quickly and easily applied when setting up the barrel.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fastener which is not only more economical than the wooden liners, but is also stronger and better adapted for holding the head of the barrel securely to the staves; and a still further object of my invention is to provide a fastener which serves to hold the head in place and which is in turn held in place by the end hoop and which also serves to more tightly connect the hoop to the barrel.

The main advantage of my invention consists in the cheapness of construction and the rapidity of application, thereby saving a great amount upon a large number of barrels.

With these various objects in view my invention consists, essentially, in making a barrel-fastener from a single piece of wire by bending said wire centrally upon itself, thereby providing two separate members, each of which is bent upon itself intermediate the ends, thereby providing two essentially U- shaped portions united at their inner ends by -means of thecurved or bowed portion of the wire, which bowed portion is adapted to be bent at an angle to the inner legs of the U- shaped portions, said bowed or connecting portions being adapted to contact with the head of the barrel when the U-shaped portions are placed upon the end of the stave, the outer legs of said portion being embraced by the end hoop of the barrel, the free ends of said outer legs being bent outwardly, the end of the hoop contacting with said outwardly-bent ends.

The invention consists also in certain details of construction hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming apart of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the upper end of a barrel and showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the upper portion of the barrel and head and hoops, my improved fastener being shown in elevation. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of the preferred form of fastener constructed in accordance with my invention, and Figs. LL, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are slight modifications of the general or broad idea of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates the upper portion of the barrel-staves, B the head of the barrel, Cthe end hoop, and D the next adjacent hoop, all of said parts being of the usual or any approved construction.

My improved construction of fastener E is applied to the ends of the barrel-staves, the inner end of said fastener contacting with the head of the barrel, while the outer end of said fastener is embraced by and contacts with the end hoop of the barrel, said end hoop serving to hold the fastener in place, and the fastener also serves as a wedge for the purpose of more securely holding the hoop upon the barrel.

In constructing a barrel-head fastener in accordance with my invention I employ a single piece of wire which is bent centrally upon itself, as shown at E, thereby providing two separate and parallel members which are bent intermediate their ends, as shown at E thereby providing two essentially U- shaped portions inverted in form. The bowed or connected portion E is bent at an angle to the inner legs of the U-shaped portions, as shown at E and the extreme ends of the outer leg portions are preferably bent outwardly, as shown at E. As before'stated, the fastener is forced down upon the end of the stave and the portion E bears upon the head of the barrel and the end hoop is then forced down over the outer legs of the U- shaped portion and contacts with the outwardly-extending end.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown the outer legs provided with barbs, and in Figs. 4 and 7 I have shown the bowed portion arranged upon the outer side of the fastener instead of the inner side, and in Fig. 8 I have shown both ends of the U-shaped portions connected by bowed portions, and in Figs. 9 and 10 I havev shown a double and a single form of fastener adapted to extend entirely across the top of the barrel.

A fastener constructed of wire, as herein shown and described, can be made for a small sum and can be applied to the barrel with the greatest ease and rapidity and when once in place is not likely to come misplaced and will securely hold the head of the barrel in place during transportation. It is also obvious that a fastener of this kind can be removed more quickly than the wooden liners now employed for holding the barrel-head in place.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, a barrel-head fastener formed of a single piece of wire and comprising a horizontal yoke adapted to rest upon the head of the barrel, the U- shaped members adapted to fit upon the end of the stave, the outer ends of said members being bent outwardly and adapted to be engaged solely by the end hoop.

2. A barrel-head fastener formed of wire and comprising a yoke portion adapted to rest upon the head of the barrel, the U-shaped members adapted to rest upon the end of the stave, the outer legs of said members being adapted to be embraced solely by the end hoop.

3. A barrel-head fastener made of wire, and

comprising two essentially U-shaped members adapted to lit upon the end of the stave, the inner ends of said members being laterally extended and connected, the outer ends of said members being bent outwardly and adapted to be engaged solely by the end hoop.

DAVID E. RICHARDS. Witnesses:

CHAS. W. STEERS, CHAS. E. BRooK. 

